By Charles Martindale Under merciful clear skies, Oregon baseball looks to end the 2023 season strong. Oregon's 39th and 40th games of the year come at home in a mid-week set vs. the 14-22 Gonzaga Bulldogs. The Ducks are third in the Pac-12 and enter this week, which includes a weekend matchup vs. No. 12 Arizona State, off a series win at Berkeley. The success this year on offense for the Ducks has been no secret recipe. Sabin Ceballos, Drew Cowley, and Tanner Smith are the motor and gas for this '23 squad. Of qualified hitters, the trio are 1-2-3 in some order in OPS, RBI, and slugging, and account for 3/5 of the top five for Oregon in average, hits, and OBP. The surging Ceballos is a home run shy of leading the Ducks in all three triple crown categories, leading the current iteration of a strong Ducks offense. With the impressive freshman season of Rikuu Nishida, who's leading the team in runs and steals, along with being right up there with the aforementioned three in OBP and AVG, it's worth assuming Oregon, who now rank 20th in the nation, can score with most teams around the country. Strong offense, weaker pitching has been a story for the Ducks for years, but a few recent performances have shown that this years Oregon team has more than meets the eye on the mound. A notably young set of arms, coach Mike Wasikowski has let the kids play, resulting in some trial by fire and some success. Jace Stoffal has emerged as a legitimate Friday night arm, and Matthew Grabbman, between the bullpen and rotation, has posted a 2.67 ERA. Even volatile innings eater Logan Mercado has had his moments this year, and is a solid representation of the team's pitching as a whole. It's hard to expect anything, but the recent hot streaks, and the lack of starpower on Gonzaga's end make this a strong opportunity for the Ducks to keep things steady on the bump. It's been a down year for the Bulldogs, who started the year 1-11 and have spent the rest of their time trading blows with mediocre competition. There have been some bright spots, including freshman outfielder Sam Stem and junior transfer Brian Kalmer, who leads the Zags in home runs, but keeping runs off the board has been a drastic challenge for Mark Machtolf and co., with Gonzaga's innings leader posting a 5.16 ERA and their ERA leader posting a 4.62 mark. The lack of depth and talent for Gonzaga makes it tough to see them as a candidate for some upsets this week, especially with how much experience and firepower the Ducks pack in their lineup.